Glazed Smoked Loin of Pork with Cumberland Sauce

Smoked Pork Loin is a very uncomplicated joint – no bones, no skin etc. And when it’s glazed with sugar, studded with cloves and served with this authentic-tasting cheats' Cumberland Sauce from Tiptree (available in independent food shops and delicatessen or from www.pick-your-own.com, you can produce a meal which has all the flavours of Christmas but will take you only about 15 minutes of your precious pressurised Christmas time.

Method

To prepare the joint: use the tip of a sharp knife and run it down the natural lines in the fat, then make cuts cross-wise on the slant. After that use the tip of the knife again to make small incisions all over the surface and press the cloves into these incisions. Next spread the mustard all over and sprinkle the sugar over that, pressing it down evenly with your hands.

Then place the joint in a small, shallow, roasting tin on the centre shelf of the oven for 1 hour 50 minutes. To make the sauce: in a bowl mix the port with the mustard powder and ginger till smooth, then whisk that into the contents of the jar of sauce with the orange and lemon zests. And that’s it! When the meat is cooked let it rest for 15 minutes and serve cut into slices, with the cold sauce spooned over. Jacket potatoes are good with this and Marks & Spencer ready-made red cabbage (in the chiller cabinet).